Devon Wells is the former Fire Chief for the Hood River Fire Department in Oregon. He started in the fire service in 1991 and is the 1st Vice President of the International Society of Fire Service Instructors (ISFSI). He presents nationally on topics of change leadership, organizational philosophy, and training program management. He is a team leader and Search Commander for the Crag Rat Mountain Rescue team based on Mt. Hood.

Devon Wells's Blog

There has been a great focus placed on "upstreamist" thinking in the medical field. An "upstreamist" is one that focuses on preventing people from falling into the river of medical system over-use. They don't focus on only treating their patient's condition, they look at what caused it and what they can do to help remedy the situation so the patient can live a happier and healthier life. This in return lessens the burden placed on the medical system and allows attention to be focused on truly… Continue

Unfortunately, there are many that seek success so they can be happy. That is backwards. Simply due to the fact that success is never enough, so you keep pushing to get that next goal, so you can be happy again.…

Smoke conditions on your arrival at an attached garage fire will tell you a lot about interior door positions. Excessive smoke in the home indicates an open door between the garage and home. Little to no smoke in the building says the door is closed. Sounds simple! However, it's what you do with this information that makes a difference to firefighters and the homeowner.

With fire in an attached garage and no smoke in the home, crews should attack the fire through the garage.…

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